Language Education Outside the U.S.

Published by Andina, February 5, 2016

The National Intercultural Bilingual Education Plan ensures quality education in indigenous languages. The Ministry of Education-Minedu expects that 9 out 10 indigenous children will complete primary education in due time by the time the country celebrates 200 years of independence, in 2021.

Published by Language Magazine, December, 2015

As demands grow for biliteracy in California, Cynthia García Dehbozorgi and Nehemias Giménez García compare the state’s initiatives to those of Spain.

Published by the Inquirer.net August 23, 2015

A nation of ‘fifth graders,’” the late Dr. Josefina R. Cortes, former dean of University of the East College of Education, said of our country that has long suffered from poor learning

The question of what language(s) to teach Indigenous students, what languages to teach them in, and how to go about it has been generating a little political heat (but not quite so much light) of late…

Published by Radio New Zealand, August 2, 2015

The Marshall Islands has announced what it calls a bold change to its public school teaching strategy, extending bilingual education through to the 12th grade.

Published by Telesur, May 18, 2015

Intercultural education is key for Panama's indigenous peoples, such as the Ngäbe-Buglé, to pass their culture to their children.

Indigenous communities in Panama reaffirmed their movement to reclaim their right to intercultural education Monday, pledging to ensure children in the first three grades of primary school in indigenous regions are taught by their own indigenous educators, Prensa Latina reported.

“We are not opposed to Latinos teaching our children,” said indigenous Ngabe-Bugle attorney Alberto Montezuma. “What we have always claimed is that at these levels, including preschool, the teachers must be indigenous so that our children have a bilingual education.”

The Panamanian government promised intercultural education for its indigenous administrative zones in 2010, but the model was never implemented, according to Panama’s La Estrella, despite the World Bank directing US$4.5 million to the Ministry of Education for the project.
Numbers of indigenous teachers top out at 10 percent of all educators in the heart of indigenous territories, with the much lower numbers on the peripheries of indigenous regions.

Published by The National, May 5, 2014

The programme helps children, most of whom speak a local language, learn in French, the official language of Senegal.

Published by Murciatoday, April 13, 2015

English And Spanish Bilingual Education Spreads Throughout Murcia.

Published by the Northumberland News, April 1`, 2015

Indigenous people struggle to study in native language

Published by the Huffington Post, U.K., February 19, 2016

How a country chooses the language for its education system is not an easy process. The decision is usually influenced by multiple factors: colonial history, origins of immigrants, legal recognition of minority languages, cultural diversity, political interests - to mention but a few. In some cases, instruction is provided in more than one language; in others the medium of instruction may vary between primary and secondary education.

Underneath this tangled and evolving web of policies and priorities, however, lies an undeniable truth: teaching and assessing children in a language they understand will result in better learning. This is something that has been recognised now for decades. It is written into the 1989 ILO Convention and Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 2001 Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity. Our new paper out today, 'If you don't understand, how can you learn?' confirms this basic principle, and yet reports that, despite the overwhelming evidence supporting this claim, 40% are still not able to access education in a language they understand.  It is clear that the complex nature of factors affecting language-education policy still take precedent over the accumulation of evidence.

Published by The Conversation August 10, 2015

For language learners, the two-way immersion program has shown high success rates. What makes the program so effective?

Published by Del Peru para el mundo, Mary 28, 2015

Some 15,000 teachers will be hired by the Ministry of Education to assist the needs of public schools providing Intercultural Bilingual Education (EIB), in favor of 53 indigenous Peruvian communities, totaling over 1 million students.

Published by the Los Angeles Times, April 13, 2015

Not so many years ago, Wayuu customs such as palabreros were looked down upon by most Colombians, part of a condescending attitude in general toward native groups. But after decades of neglect, experts on the country's aboriginal cultures say, more respect finally is being paid.

For Colombia's native peoples, a watershed event was the 2010 enactment of the Language Law, which made preservation of the customs and languages of the Wayuu and the other native communities a national priority. The law was passed after warnings that up to half of the indigenous idioms in Colombia faced extinction unless measures were taken to preserve them.

Also in 2010, the tribal judges were recognized by the United Nations' cultural arm UNESCO as part of the world's cultural heritage, providing added impetus to tribal rights and the struggle for cultural preservation.
Opponents of planned Colombian dams take heart from OAS report
Opponents of planned Colombian dams take heart from OAS report

"Each native language gives a vision of the world, a way of perceiving and organizing things that we cannot afford to lose," said Olga Ardila, a linguistics professor at National University of Colombia in Bogota. "And there is also the social function of language, how it binds communities together."

Published by telesurtv, April 2, 2015